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When I was offered an opportunity to sew up one of the many lovely patterns from Wissew Official I was a bit nervous as I had never made a French pattern. Fortunately for me, they have a few patterns available in English and I made sure to pick one that had been translated as my first try. I chose the Rose Dress and made a woven version (as the pattern calls for) first and will share that later this week. But for this dress, I decided to go off course a bit because I really wanted to see how it would look in this fun striped fabric.
Speaking of this fabric, isn’t it amazing? This is a rainbow stripe from Mily Mae Fabrics in the fall colorway. It is so buttery soft and sewed up just great. Make sure you are using a hem tape like this one when sewing. It will greatly help your hems. I also stabilized the waist with clear elastic which is very helpful. Since this pattern is designed for knits, I SHOULD have added the clear elastic at the bodice front to help stabilize it and prevent it from flipping out slightly, but I only understitched the lining and ah well, it isn’t the worst thing I could have done.
I did have to make a few changes to create this dress out of knit. To begin, I folded back the placket area of the back pattern piece and cut it on the fold instead. Next, I cut only a skirt front and back instead of having the back center seam/placket. I assembled the dress with bigger seam allowances and tried it on as I went, making adjustments for fit. I ended up taking the sides in quite a bit but otherwise, I didn’t adjust much. What did take me FOREVER was that dang stripe matching. Time consuming pattern layout and cutting and several failed basting attempts proved frsutrating. That front left side was giving me fits. No matter how carefully I sewed, the stripes were just a tad off. So, I finally remembered the power of fusible tape. I used the tape to carefully line up the seams, making sure it worked before finally sewing the seam. My tape is still showing here a tad (oops).
I was so thrilled when this dress was complete. It is comfortable, and fun to wear. The vibrant colors make me happy! I am glad I took a chance on hacking the Wissew Rose pattern to work for knit and would recommend it to others looking for a beautiful sew. I will be back later this week to give a full pattern review on the Rose Dress. Until next time,
Happy Sewing
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About 18 years ago I decided to teach myself how to sew. Long before blogs and resources available today which meant it was often disastrous. But I never gave up because I loved it so much. Today I love helping others get started on their own sewing journey. You can read more about my family and I